Wounds Heading in the Right Direction

The doctors and nurses changed the dressings on Heather's leg and abdominal wounds today. Because the wounds are still quite painful and extensive they sedated her to make these changes. They allowed me to stay in the room while they did so, which I greatly appreciated. It is not fun to see the way Heather's body is hacked up, but I would rather see it and know what is going on than not. She has large chunks of flesh missing from her legs, but the doctor thinks the wounds are looking better. The infection and necrosis seem to be under control, and the tissue is more granulated and vascularized (i.e., the cells are regrowing and blood vessels are supplying the area with blood/oxygen which is necessary for healing and for future grafts to work). The doctor was pleased with the progress, slow as it is. He said they will again wait a few days and see how she does. If she continues to do well they will consider doing homografts again.

It is strange to be in the room during these procedures. I am not the queasy type, so the blood and open flesh don't bother me from that standpoint. It is just odd to be in a room where all, myself included, are dressed in plastic gowns, hairnet caps, rubber gloves, and surgical masks; my wife is laying there naked with major parts of her flesh gaping open down to muscle; and all these strangers (5-7 people) are moving her around washing her and placing large segments of black foam and plastic over her wounds. To top that all off, Heather is sedated through all this, but not completely asleep. So she is awake just enough to hazily respond to simple questions about her pain, but doesn't seem to notice all the gyrations they are putting her body through to change her dressings. All in all it is just a strange experience.

She is sleeping now and pretty wiped out. Her hematocrit came up to 24 today, after receiving two units of blood yesterday. We'll see if it improves or if she still requires more transfused blood.

Last night they moved Heather to a new room so that she could have a window. It is a smaller room, but it is wonderful to be able to get some natural light in the room. It is really hard for her to maintain a sense of reality when there is no difference between day and night. She is quite excited about her new room. She has a lovely view of the Huntsman Cancer Center and the hills behind it. Some people have noted that I haven't made it clear what hospital we are in. We are in the Burn Trauma ICU of the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City.